Ershad Demands Utility Service from Government, Prime Minister’s Pledge for More Power Production

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday promised to ensure
electricity for all within 2020.

"The Government has taken measures to ensure electricity for all within
2020," she said while unveiling the plaque of newly-built 51 megawatt
rental power plant in Sylhet on Saturday morning.

Mentioning that power is the driving force for development of any country, the
Prime Minister said the wheels of development remain stalled without power.
Blaming the past governments for nagging power crisis in the country, Hasina
said that while assuming power, her Government inherited acute crises of power,
gas, water and food as well as global economic recession.

Saying that the government worked for the last 14 months
for the development of the power sector, she listed her government's various
efforts to free the nation from the nagging power crisis.

Hasina said the present government is always conscious of the necessity of
power. "So, we promised in our election manifesto to make the country
surplus in power by 2021."

She said steps have been taken to raise the power generation capacity to 7,000
megawatt by 2013 as per the election pledges. "Contracts were signed to
install power plants with 1000 megawatt capacity in different places of the
country in the first phase under this plan."

She also said steps were taken to award work orders for installing power plants
to produce another 1000 megawatt by next two months.

The Prime Minister informed her audience that the government has taken measures
to implement a scheme to install power plants of 500 megawatt capacity in the
private sector.

In the meantime Jatiya Party
chairman HM Ershad on Saturday urged the prime minister to announce a timeframe
when the nagging crisis of gas, electricity and water will end.
The crisis of electricity, water and gas has created an intolerable situation
in the country, he said, but hastened to add that the people
should give time to solve these three problems as they were
not the creation of the present government.
The JP Chairman was talking to reporters before attending the party's presidium
meeting at its Banani office in the capital.
He said that the Awami League led government did not hold any consultation with
the Jatiya Party, one of its allies, on the trial of war criminals.